Marcin Tybura on canceled UFC 208 fight: 'There's no one to blame for that'

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Marcin Tybura lived up to his end of the bargain to fight at UFC 208. He went through a training camp, agreed to a late-notice opponent switch and successfully made weight. Then he was pulled from Saturday’s card.

Just one day before Tybura’s (14-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) scheduled UFC 208 fight, opponent Justin Willis (4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was pulled from the card after he was deemed “unfit to compete.”

Tybura received the news after he had already made weight and as he was going through his final medical testing. Naturally, he was quite upset.

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“When I found out, it was something I couldn’t believe,” Tybura told MMAjunkie. “I was at the medical exams, and they told me the fight in canceled. I wanted to cry. Seriously.”

UFC 208 takes place Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The heavyweight bout was slated as the featured attraction of the early prelims on UFC Fight Pass; the remainder of the card airs on FS1 and pay-per-view.

Willis is the only heavyweight in more than four years to withdraw or be pulled from a UFC fight stemming from weight issues. The UFC newcomer accepted the bout with Tybura on just 10 days’ notice and wrote that his body simply “shut down” while trying to make the 266-pound limit for the weight class (via Facebook):

Tybura said it’s difficult to point the finger at anyone responsible.

“There’s no one to blame for that,” Tybura said. “He took the fight on 10 days’ notice and tried to make weight. I don’t know exactly what happened, but the thing is there’s no one to blame.”

Tybura will receive his base fight purse (“show money), UFC officials confirmed. That’s not ideal considering his “win” bonus, as well as potential fight-night bonuses, would be in play if he were fighting, but Tybura said the financial aspect isn’t what stings the most.

Losing the opportunity to compete after going through the entire process leaves a unfulfilled void within Tybura, he said. And the only way to fill that void is to get booked for another fight as soon as possible.

“When you have ambitions to fight, the money is not enough,” Tybura said. “I had the already-rising adrenaline and everything ,and now I don’t see the point of training anymore. It’s crazy. I’ve been waiting half a year before now, and I’m hoping to fight sometime soon.

“I can fight in one week or something. What’s going to happen? I don’t know. I don’t wish anybody to step out of a fight in any upcoming events, but if anything happens, I’m in. I can go wherever around the world.”